Califone - Roots & Crowns (Thrill Jockey)
4/5
By: Charlie Potter
If you're like me, you're handsome, and you'll take a deep and secret satisfaction whenever you're proved that grunge is not dead. Grunge is often considered a dirty word, and not one that people like to spread around all too much. The idea of grunge reeks of the nineties, and for some this only brings up bad associations, but to me the word grunge just brings to mind a plethora of amazing uncompromising bands that were brought to the fore front by some freakish twist of fashion. If you're to look at most of the grunge bands who happily slithered into the background and what they are doing now you are likely to find some of the best music being made today.
Well, this band used to be a grunge band, and regardless of how much you shuffle the words around, and regardless of whether Califone would want to label themselves as something that is so rooted in the past with so many connotations, Califone have got everything I miss from grunge without being at all generic or tired. Roots and crowns is their 8th album as Califone, not to mention the 4 albums they recorded as Red Red Meat.
The first thing you notice about this album is the sensitivity to how the songs are played. Most bands sound as if they are trying to crush their songs to a bloody pulp in comparison to this loving relaxed approach. Everything on this recording sounds as if it has been given the time it deserves, the result is a cracked and withered warm yet knowing voice spread over a crusty old guitar and whole bunch percussion, being dowsed with a mess of sound to wash it down with, not to mention the more diverse instumentation in a lot of the songs. Although this album is consistently relaxed throughout there is certainly quite a dynamic with in this relaxedness, this is aided by the range of instrumentation. At times this album rolls along in a nostalgic way aided by brass, and all manner of percussion, at some times the album can be genuinely touching, stripped back to vocals and a guitar. But generally the songs are very based around the vocals, which are very honest and calmly sung.
Apparently the album was inspired by the Psychic TV song 'Orchids', of which there is a fantastic cover of on this album. For those who haven't heard this track, it's a sensitively sung, vocally driven and beautiful song where the lyrics are an obvious strong. This band are worth hearing not only because they've been knocking out good music for years, but because there's actually no better way to introduce yourselves to them than 'Roots and Crowns'.
Artists in this article: Califone
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